‘Idol,’ Sheen spec take Tuesday

ABC wins night's final hour in key demos

Fox dominated the first half of primetime Tuesday with its special edition of “American Idol” but CBS held up well with its “NCIS” duo and ABC won the evening’s final hour in key demos with its Charlie Sheen interview.

According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, a 90-minute edition of “American Idol” in which the 10 male finalists performed averaged a 7.5 rating/21 share in adults 18-49 and 21.3 million viewers overall from 8 to 9:30 p.m., peaking in the final half-hour with an 8.0 demo rating and 22.5 million viewers. It was within 10% of its averages for the comparable night a year ago. “Idol” was followed by first-year comedy “Raising Hope” (3.4/9 in 18-49, 8.8 million viewers overall), which set highs thanks to its big lead-in.

At ABC, it was slow going early with “No Ordinary Family” (1.2/4 in 18-49, 4.3 million viewers overall) before picking up a bit at 9 p.m. with “V” (1.8/5 in 18-49, 5.0 million viewers overall), which was down a tick week to week. The net then surged to the lead in all demos at 10 p.m. with the special “20/20: Charlie Sheen In His Own Words” (3.2/9 in 18-49, 9.3 million viewers overall), which logged the Alphabet’s best scores in Tuesday’s 10 o’clock hour (excluding “Dancing With the Stars” finales) in two years. Regular timeslot occupant “Detroit 1-8-7” managed a mere 1.2 demo score with its most recent episode.

CBS, which ran second on the night, saw “NCIS” (3.8/11 in 18-49, 19.2 million viewers overall) hold up well opposite “Idol,” retaining 86% of its young-adult score from the previous week (when it faced “Glee” instead) and 90% of its overall audience. In the 8:30 p.m. half-hour, “Idol” and “NCIS” combined for more than 40 million viewers. From there, CBS stayed second in demos at both 9 p.m. with “NCIS: Los Angeles” (3.2/9 in 18-49, 15.6 million viewers overall), which was down more than 15% week to week in 18-49, and 10 p.m. with “The Good Wife” (2.2/6 in 18-49, 11.3 million viewers overall); the latter drama was up week to week despite facing the Sheen special and still led its hour rather easily in total viewers.

At NBC, “The Biggest Loser” (2.4/7 in 18-49, 7.0 million viewers overall) was affected by the extra reality competition from “American Idol,” sliding about 10% week to week. And 10 p.m. drama “Parenthood” was also down a bit (1.9/6 in 18-49, 5.0 million viewers overall), slipping to third among the broadcasters after leading the pack one week earlier.